Hugh Grant on cross-dressing and why acting is ‘torture’

PADDINGTON 2 star Hugh Grant has revealed that he finds the job of acting ‘torture’ — though he’s not averse to a spot of cross-dressing.

Listing the ‘crazy psychosis of every actor’ as well as the ‘incredible narcissism, self-love and insecurity’, Hugh told the BBC: ‘I’ve always been equivocal about acting, to say the least, and I still am. It’s torture really. The insecurity is unbearable. The fear of failing.

‘Even Ben Whishaw [the voice of Paddington] asked which part of the job I enjoyed. I said, “None of it really,” and he said, “No, nor me!”‘

‘They’re difficult to do without being dull or naff,’ he said. ‘So when you start getting offered roles that are more nuanced and with darker notes and more colour, it’s a relief.’

Oh dear, at least there’s one aspect of the craft he can get behind — and that’s dragging up.

While his co-star Hugh Bonneville got gussied up as a comely cleaning lady in the first film, Hugh had fun hiding out in holy orders in the second — and it’s not the first time he’s donned a frock, he’s happy to admit.

‘Loved it,’ he told the BBC. ‘I used to do a lot at my all-boys school where I took the girl parts in plays.

‘I was a late developer, with the least beard, quite pretty and with the right kind of eyelashes.’

He added: ‘I was particularly good as Brigitta Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.’